Teaching

We teach classes in how to teach rope related skills more effectively, and courses in how to learn information more efficiently. Both teaching and learning are advanced skills, skills we are often not taught, yet are expected to have as rope using professionals and volunteers. Our courses in teaching are designed to show teachers what techniques work most effectively to teach the cognitive and kinetic skills required in rope use based on decades of teaching research. Similarly, our classes in how to learn are designed to help learners improve the rate at which they learn, and their long term retention rate, again based on decades of learning research. These courses are taught at cost, so they are quite cost efficient for large classes!

Research

﻿We break stuff for fun. And for science. No, really.

Since 2009, Tom Evans and a cohort of like-minded rescue volunteers and professionals have been breaking gear in system configurations to see how it behaves. Gear that is branded with a breaking strength (say, webbing rated to 4000 lbs), usually hasn't been tested in the way it will be used in the system (as an anchor, like a wrap-3-pull-2 or a basket hitch). Our approach tests gear the way it will be used in the field, and our results make it possible for you to decide which configurations of gear to use to maximize strength, efficiency, or whatever other variable you'd like to maximize! We feel so strongly about this work, that we provide all our articles, data, and conclusions free of charge for anyone interested. Put another way, information that can keep people safe should be free, particularly when it benefits rescue professionals and active military personnel.

Soon, we'll have executive summaries for different types of research—a concise, 1-2 page summary of the results and what they mean in practice. In the mean time, please browse ourResource Archive, where we include research we've produced alongside high-quality research from other sources.

Service

The professional, volunteer, and recreational rope using communities are busy using ropes, so research and development moves forward at a slower rate than in some other disciplines. We provide archiving of the limited information, research, data, and teaching materials that are produced so rope users can find these materials rapidly so they can get back on rope! We provide three functions, 1. Archive and organize research data so everyone has access to it, 2. Write synopses of existing data so you do not have to read all the research yourself, and 3. We archive teaching resources (technique descriptions, lesson plans, class handouts, etc.). Ultimately our goal is to facilitate information transfer within the community by making the discussion about improvements in techniques more transparent and easy to follow.